Uncovering Space
20 SEPT, 14H00-16H00
Presented by matralab in collaboration with Pop Montréal and curated by Jen Reimer

Featuring Andrew Emond (Under Montréal), Douglas Moffat, Will Straw & Jen Reimer & Max Stein, moderated by Sandeep Bhagwati

In the 12th century, architects and composers would work closely together to create a sacred space: the listener and the viewer’s experience were considered when building these environments. The space itself was an integrated experience: there was no separation between music and architecture.

Now, many urban spaces are utilitarian and exist as a host for transience: moving cars, buses, trains and people from point A to point B, without consideration of the passer-by or viewer’s experience. Many of these spaces are vast and resonant, almost like cathedrals in themselves. Can these spaces be re-imagined in a way to become more integrated and experiential? How can the space itself become a memorable experience for those passing through?

As the city grows and expands technologically, there are more distractions pulling us further away from the physical world – our sense of community and the spaces we inhabit. Perhaps it is the responsibility of the artist to redirect people’s gaze and draw them closer to the space they are in: through creating a new narrative that takes into consideration the viewer and the listener – perhaps we will all experience the space in a new way.

How can artistic interventions create new awareness of urban spaces? Uncovering Space is a presentation and discussion that explores the aesthetic re-framing and re-imagining of built space.

-Text  by Jen Reimer

Sound artist and site-specific performer Jen Reimer meditates on her fascination with resonant spaces, explaining how seeking out a space to practice the french horn instigated her creative process, and eventually a generative collaboration with sound experimenter Max Stein. Hear recordings of their performances in a former cistern in Mãe d´Agua, Lisboa and an old chimney at Skagaströnd, Iceland. This episode also contains a reading from Gaston Bachelard’s Poetics of Space. Originally aired on CFRU 93.3FM on Dec.4, 2014.

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